


Dust in the Cosmos

by Lady Clytemnestra (Lady_Clytemnestra)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 02:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Clytemnestra/pseuds/Lady%20Clytemnestra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end, there is no rank. Only dust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust in the Cosmos

She lay on her back, the darkness closing in. Whispers, voices, faces, crowded the little lucid space left in her mind, their hysteria, fear, malice, love and pain all warring and mingling with her own.  
  
Chakotay's face melted into the forefront.  
"It's been a good run, Kathryn."  
He smiled, those fingers tugging his ear again.   
  
"I'm not done yet," she managed, gathering her force of will and sitting up.  
  
"She won't make it," Culluh snarled, Seska flickering beside him. "She is weak."  
  
"Always has been," Seska's voice rang.  
  
"Captain," Tuvok called. Those ears and eyes had never been so comforting, even as they evanesced.   
  
"I'm here," she mumbled. Her broken body barely registered her commands. Her ribs were screaming, every breath labored.  
  
"I would have stayed." Neelix floated around her.   
  
"We all would have," Tom agreed. B'Elanna was beside him, arms crossed and eyes fiery.   
  
"I know..."  
  
"Look at her. A few more inches, you can do it, Katie!"   
Her mother was beckoning, age and worry in every line on her face.  
  
She pulled herself up, made for her chair.  
  
"One minute to self destruct," the computer droned.   
  
"Always been a Gung-Ho kind of gal, Kathryn."  
Chakotay again, this time as the American captain from the holodeck.  
  
She fell into the seat, her hair flopping over her burned flesh. Her blind eye throbbed, the burns to her face and neck hotter than a sun.  
  
"It's not long now," Harry reassured her, his easy smile in place. His body lay in the chair beside hers, broken, lost, shattered.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Harry."  
  
"I won't hear it," he scolded playfully. "Captain Kim's orders."  
  
"Cocky, Harry." She chuckled, raised her head a fraction. "Still an ensign..."  
  
"No, ma'am," he whispered.   
  
"30 seconds to self destruct."  
  
Her crew stood around her, her mother, Molly, her sister, the people she loved.   
She smiled at Molly, watched as her old friend played with her puppies, and lamented her own barren life. She knew it was a choice-- one of many-- that she had had to make for the good of her crew. But that didn't make it any easier to live with.  
  
"Fifteen seconds to self destruct."  
  
The bridge was empty. The specters had all gone. She saw herself, standing over a nursery and bassinet, heard the chime of a mobile. For a fleeting instant, she was happy.   
  



End file.
